Finding Your Way Back
by obsessedwithharrypotter
Summary: Really bad at summeries but i'll give it a shot. Harry gets hit with a spell that sends him onto the border between life and death... Can he find his way back? PLEASE READ AND REVIEW!
1. Chapter One

A/N- this is a Prologue chapter. The real story begins next chapter. I just don't feel like having the numbers on chapter thing be off.

Chapter One

"Harry! Look out!" Hermione's scream tore the silence around Harry as he saw a small shimmer of green light out of the corner of his eyes. He ducked just in time, but could feel a burning sensation on the top of his scalp.

He turned to his right and saw a Death Eater aiming another spell, but this one at Hermione.

Being the clever witch that she is, she moved in time to avoid the Imperious Curse.

Before the said Death Eater had arrived, Harry had stood with his eyes transfixed to the house closest to him. If he strained his memory really hard, he could remember being in the front yard. This was Godric's Hallow, and this was his home when his parents were still alive. And 16 years to the day they were murdered. Today was October 31, and it was 3 o'clock in the morning.

Harry couldn't place the house in his memory, just the yard, which he guessed was because the house had been utterly destroyed when Voldemort's curse had backfired. It was night now, and the only thing that lit the house was a streetlamp across the street. And now this Death Eater wanted to kill him (as if that was new news).

Hermione moved to Harry's side, wand pointed at the black-cloaked figure, Harry the same way.

When the Death Eater began to take a few steps closer, Hermione bellowed, _"STUPIFY!"_ and the Death Eater fell to the ground.

But the moment he fell, two more came out of the darkness behind them. One muttered aspell Harry had never heard of before and that was all Harry heard before blacking out completely.

Hermione, seeing Harry's body on the ground, turned and saw the two Death Eaters. She dodged over Harry's body to narrowly escape two spells, before firing one her self, "_Petrificus Totalis!"_ Her aim was true, and one of the two fell when the full body bind hit them.

The next Death Eater shot a red curse at her, which she narrowly dodged before sending another spell directly at him, causing him to be knocked out. But Hermione knew that he would awaken soon, so she grabbed Harry's body and dissapareted to the Burrow, where she was sure Harry would wake up soon.

Hermione arrived just outside the Burrow, and abandoned Harry's body to go get help from one of the Weaslys.

She rapped loudly on the door, and was soon answered by a very bleary eyed Mrs. Weasly who was in her nightgown.

"Hermione dear, what are you doing outside of school?"

"I'm sorry Mrs. Weasly, but we need your help." She said, turning to where Harry's body was.

Mrs. Weasly gasped upon seeing the limp form of Harry laying about 9 meters away.

"Hurry, lets get him inside." She said, and the both of them heaved him up and set him on a couch in front of a fire that was nothing more then burning ash now.

Upon setting him on the couch, Mrs. Weasly went to the fire, muttered a spell, and it suddenly was roaring with life.

"Keep an eye on him, will you Hermione? I need to go wake Arthur and alert Dumbledore."

"Yeah, of course," was all she could say before Mrs. Weasly was buzzing up the stairs and out of site.

For the first time, she looked at Harry in proper light. His eyes were closed, and his sweat filled face had hair matted to his forehead. Although at first glance he looked like someone sleeping peacefully, the more she looked, the more he seemed to be living a nightmare inside his head. His lips were not straight across, but were frowning, and Hermione was guessing that if she had lifted his eyelids she would have seen eyes filled with ultimate fear.

Within three minutes, Ron, Ginny, Fred, George, Mr. and Mrs. Weasly, and Dumbledore were all awake and in the Burrow, crowding around Harry.

Immediately, Dumbledore kneeled next to Harry. He felt Harry's wrist for a pulse, and smiled, which the group took as a good sign.

Dumbledore did a few spells over Harry, and then stood with his face in a frown, and with no gleam in his eyes.

"He will be alright," A sigh went through all of them. "But I do not know when he will wake. The curse put on him will keep him in a permanent coma until he can find his way back."

"Find his way back?" Mrs. Weasly half asked, half said as a statement.

"He is on the edge of death. He has not been pushed into death, and thus will stay with us. But in order for him to comeback, he has to find his way. At least, this is what witches and wizards who have been in a prolonged coma have said. They will describe nothing more then that, so that is all I know."

"So, we have no idea when he'll wake up?" Ron asked, his face pale, his hand tightly grabbing Hermione's, her doing the same.

"It could be tomorrow, it could be in ten years. We just have to wait."

A/N- next chapter- what is happening to Harry where he has to find his way back from? Promise it will be interesting, please review what's here so far! And I know this was short, next will be longer, I promise!

__

There is always **hope**.

Aragorn, The Lord of the Rings, The Fellowship of the Ring (book not movie)

(At the bottom of each chappy I'm gunna put good, meaningful quotes from songs, movies, and books.dnt ask why, I just want to. usually they'll have some minor thing to do with the chapter)


	2. Chapter Two

A/N- This is what' all happening to Harry, just so you know.

Chapter 2

After the darkness, Harry found himself facing a bright light and a terrible headache. A plump, short woman was examining him. Harry realized his shirt was off and the woman was proceeding to his pants. In a frantic movement, Harry pushed her hand away, stood up on the table he was lying on, and buckled his belt again.

"What are you doing?"

"I was merely examining you young man." The women spoke English with an Australian accent. "I was just going to put you in a gown. Normally patients do not wake up so soon after they've been sent here. It usually takes a few more hours."

"And where is _here_ exactly?" Harry asked, his eyes darting all around the room. There were no windows. The walls were all painted a dull, boring shade of yellow that reminded him of a hospital. The table he'd been laying on was of cold steel.

"Well, since you're up and about, you can put this on yourself. You'll be able to join the Community later on, after they've checked you over." She handed Harry a dull teal down and turned to leave.

"Ma'm, you didn't answer my question. Where are we?" However, the women just continued out the door and closed it, and Harry heard a click when she left that made him sure if was locked.

Neatly folded at the end of the table were his shirt and cloak. Harry felt around his cloak for his wand, but it wasn't there. Admitting defeat while he was still in this small room, Harry removed his pants, left on his boxers, and then slid the medical gown over his head. He was just beginning to feel cold when someone knocked on the door, and entered with out answer.

It was a man. He looked to be in his mid thirty's, with thing hair and an early bald spot beginning to show on his head. He was skinny and had a stern face that looked as if at one time it was always laughing. His skin had a look that meant it was supposed to be darker, but being out of the sun for so long had turned it a pale, sickly color.

"My name is Healer Fertew. I'll just be making sure you're alright from coming here."

"But where are we?"

"Open your mouth."

"But-"

Harry never got the words out a second time. A popsicale stick like object was keeping his tongue out of the way while the Healer checked his throat. He removed the piece of wood, and moved to his ears. Harry was surprised to see he was using Muggle methods of check him over. If he was a Healer, and not a doctor, why couldn't he just use his wand?

"How come-"

"Take three deep breaths and release them slowly."

"But why-"

"I'm just going to listen to your heart."

Harry did as he was told and tolerated the ice-cold stethoscope against his chest and back.

When the Healer pulled away, he seemed satisfied. "No damage seems to have been done on the trip here. A nurse will be by shortly, go ahead and get dressed. You will learn the answers to all your questions after the nurse has released you into the Community."

Harry stared blankly at the Healer. Ever word he had said seemed memorized, and like it had been said a thousand times before.

As soon as the door shut and Harry once again heard it being locked from the outside, he threw the gown off and dressed in his pants and shirt, holding his cloak folded, unknown whether these people were magical or not.

About ten minutes later, the same plump women from before led him from the room into a hallway. It was long and narrow. The carpet was a dull shade of blue, but the walls were an almost blinding white, as if they'd been scrubbed. After about a 3-minute walk, they were in front of a door labeled, "Counselor". "You'll get everything you want to know in here." The women said, before banging her knuckles hard against the wooden door.

A few moments later, a tall woman who looked to be in her fifties opened the door with a smile.

"Hello Harry. Please come in. Thank you for bringing his, Bernice."

As Bernice left, Harry entered the room. If was like everything else in this building. Dull. Even the wooden desk that looked like it had been glazed to perfection held no beauty.

"Please, sit down." She said, pointing to one of three chairs in the front of her desk. Harry chose the closest one to him and hunched over. He was so confused. He just wanted to know what was going on!

"Well, Harry, I'm sure you have lots of questions."

"Yeah, I do." He said is a somewhat snobbish manor. "Where am I? How did I get here? Where's my wand? How can I get-"

"Shh! Calm down! I want to help you, but we need to take it one question at a time."

"Fine." Harry said, desperately trying to control his temper which was already heated by the lack of not knowing anything.

"Alright, your first questioning, 'Where am I?' I guess that has to be summed up like this; for some reason you have been sent to this place, or as we call it, the 'Community'. None of us know how we got here. All we know is that we all want to get back to the life we've left behind. No one knows how, so we all just listen to what the Ar say. The Ar is the group of people that rule us. They tell us what to do so that we can live peacefully until a time comes, if it does, so that we pass back into our old lives. Does that answer your question?"

"Sort of. So you have no idea where _here _is?"

"No, nobody does. Now, what is your next question?"

"Well, since you already answered my second one, where's my wand? I know everyone here is magic; the Healer wasn't called a doctor. But they used Muggle means to look at me…"

"Magic does not work where we are. Everyone in the Community is magic, but no one had their wand when they came here, and no one has been able to produce any magic."

"Ok, that works. And you already said you don't know how to get back but… Are you sure _no one _has ever gotten back?"

"There are, suspicions, about how to get back. No one knows for sure how to though. If anyone has gotten back, they haven't returned to tell us how to get back as well. For now, I suggest you just try to settle into the Community. Try to relax before trying to get back."

"One more question. How long have you been here?"

The counselor was silent and began watching her thumbs as she twiddled with them.

"I think it's best you leave now. A young man by the name of Rob will be around shortly. You will be inducted into his part of the Community." She then shuffled him to the door. Right before closing it she whispered, with fear in her eyes and a pale face, "I've been in hell for the past 39 years. Since I was 11 years old." Abruptly the door shut in Harry's face, leaving him speechless. Soon a man who looked to be about 19 or 20 came and collected him. He had dark skin and a large scar from the middle of his forehead parallel to his left eyebrow until it disappeared into his hair line. "I'm Rob. You must be Harry." He said upon his arrival. "You'll be in my Group. We take all boys from ages 7-25, so you've still got a few years." He spoke with a very strange accent. It seemed English was the main language in the Community, but not everyone originally spoke it.

Down and down the long bleached walls hallways they went, occasionally taking a right or left hand turn. Eventually, they met a hallway with no turnoffs and just one single door at the end. Harry suddenly had flashbacks of the hallway and door at the Department of Mysteries. Only one thing was different. Here, there was no darkness, just bright, shining lights.

They reached the door and Rob opened it. He revealed the sickest most horrid looking place Harry had ever seen. He was outside, yes. But the destruction of the land was terrible.

The dirt around him was a think sickly looking brown. Every few meters or so a dead, blackish grayish shrub would lie, parched and looking for water that would probably never come. All Harry could see around was buildings. At least 10 three story buildings lay across the area. All were made of a dull color of red brick. Upon looking up at the tops of the buildings, Harry saw something even worse.

There was so sun in the sky, just a gray a bit lighter then the dark gray around it. And it did not look like clouds in the sky. It seemed more like that was the natural color, and that was what Harry guessed it was when Rob showed no sign of seeing a terrible looking storm directly above him.

Rob and Harry walked for some while until they reached the last building on their left.

"This is where you'll be living until… until something happens."

Before following Rob into his new home, Harry looked down the road a bit more. It continued for about ½ a kilometer, before a great black darkness seemed to eat up everything. 'This place is like a prison,' Harry thought before following Rob into the building.

A/N- So, another chapter. I won't usually be updating this often. I've got school, then softball, then shower, food and homework, so just count on an update every… three to seven days.

Next chapter- Harry meets his room mates.

Cool Quote

Say what you want,

Say what you mean

Question yourself are you really what you seem

Say who you are

Say what you need

Question yourself are you really what you dream?


	3. Chapter Three

Chapter Three

Immediately after Harry walked into his Group home, he knew what to expect. Dullness. And he was right. The room around him held three old, scraggly looking couches all surrounding a television. It was currently turned off.

"Follow me." Rob said, breaking Harry's train of thought, "I'll give you the grand tour. This is the Hang room. Or, you could just call it where we sit when we have nothing else to do."

"Can't you just go outside?"

"No." Rob spoke sharply. "We are only to go outside when the Ar tell us we can, or if there's a fire or some emergency like that. We usually go out every other day for about and hour or two, three at the most."

"Oh" was all Harry could reply. To Harry, the Ar seemed like mad overlords who didn't want to loose their captives.

They continued walking around the main level of the building. Rob showed Harry the kitchen, dinning room, and the washroom, which held 10 stalls and 10 showers. Harry could not begin to guess how many boys were up above him in their beds right now if they needed this many toilets.

Finishing the main floors tour, Rob led him to a narrow staircase. "This leads up to the boys 7-15 area. It's about 11 right now so everyone's asleep." He led Harry about 20 feet away and revealed another staircase. "Up these stairs is where you'll sleep. Follow me."

Harry did as he was told. He suddenly had a question pop into his head and couldn't help but ask it. "If it's 11 P.M., then how come the sun was still out?"

"The gray sun never gives way to the peacefulness of a dark night. We live in the gray."

Harry pondered this answer and followed what felt like two flights of stairs until they reached a door. Harry thought he heard murmurs of voices. Rob stepped on the third to last stair that reached the top, and it creaked. Immediately the voices inside diminished. Rob opened the door to reveal two-dozen sets of bunk beds with many more folded up and set off to the sides.

"It's all right guys," Rob said, turning on a lamp to give light to the shade drawn room. "It's just me and a new guy."

"Strange time to get a new guy!" Spoke a man who looked to be about 23, who sat up on the bottom bed. "Why'd they bring him here now instead of morning?"

"Don't ask me Will. They just called me right before I came up here."

"Yea," Will replied, "We was wondering where you'd gone. Thought you might a slipped up here and was sleeping in a back bed, we did. Thought you might a been a bit tired dealing with all the kids. When we heard the creak we thought for a sec you might a been the Ar."

"Well, the Ar would've known you'd been awake. I heard you before I even reached the creaked stair!"

"Well, lets just get passed that. So, who's the kid?"

The eyes of all the guys of the bunk beds moved from Rob and Wills' conversation to Harry.

"This is Harry, everyone. Harry Potter."

About 2/3 of the people in the room's eyes flickered to his scar, showing Harry that some of them had been there too long to have been in his world when he got his scar.

"You're really Harry Potter?" said a boy who's bed lay at the foot of Wills. He spoke English with an Indian accent and looked to be about Harry's age. "Back home we learned all about you. At school my History of Magic teacher was making do five pieces of parchment on you and how you brought down You-Know-Who."

"Back away from him Jackson. It's his first day here and I'm sure he got enough attention for who he was back home."

"Still," Jackson said, apparently wide awake now and eager to talk, "It's nice to talk about home, even if we may never get-"

The room went completely silent as a sharp, rough knock hammered on a door two floors beneath them. The room reeked with the feeling of fear. As if on cue, everyone in the room dropped their heads to their pillows and shut their eyes. Rob grabbed Harry's shirt and dragged him over to the first available bed.

"Harry," Rob whispered, "get into the bed and pretend to be asleep. I have to go greet them. Hurry!"

Harry did as he was told as Rob bounded down the narrow staircase. By the time Harry had gotten into his bed, he heard another sharp knock at the buildings front door.

Three minutes later, when the knocking had not continued, Harry felt confident that Rob had answered and was doing what ever was necessary to keep the 'Ar' happy. Ten minutes later Rob had still not returned, but the stair creaked right outside the giant room. Harry felt the room get even tenser as the door creaked open slowly. Harry was now very glad his head was turned towards the wall. The deep breathing coming from what he could only guess was the Ar was scaring him more then even the Dementor's ever had. The creature walked the length of the room, and turned around and walked it again until it seemed satisfied with what it saw. It walked towards the door and closed it slowly with another loud creak. When the third stair creaked as well, Harry was sure he heard the group around him give a sigh of relief. Ten minutes later the stair creaked again but the door was shut quickly and a lamp was turned on.

"Just me guys, and don't worry, their gone."

An even more audible sigh was given from the beds.

"It's getting late anyway every one, lets just turn in."

With that, Rob turned off the lamp. Harry heard him cross the floorboards before he reached his own bed; un did the covers, and slid in himself.

Harry turned on to his stomach, and realized his forehead was glistening with sweat.

A/N-oooo scary Ar!! Next chapter will be Harry finding out what the Ar really are. And we'll find out why the older boys were breaking curfew before Harry and Rob entered.

Cool Quote

Death is just another path, one that we all must take. The great rain curtain of this world pulls back and all turns to silver glass. And then you see it. White shores, and beyond. A far green country under a swift sunrise. (Describing the wonders of death.)

-Return of the King (movie, some words stolen from last chapter of rotk as well, but if a different order.

-Gandalf


	4. Chapter Four

Chapter Four

When morning began Harry heard the first signs of life being the creaking floorboards all around him as many of the people surrounding him awoke and left to the lower level. After about 20 minutes of listening to the guys around him wake up Harry stood up and left the sleeping room.

He went down the flight of stairs until he reached the main floors landing. Harry heard a small murmur of laughter and chatter and headed towards the Hang room. Harry found all three couches taken over by bodies. About 50 people were already in the room, surrounding a black and white television that was playing old re-runs of Wiley Coyote and his amazing anvils. Harry joined the group and found himself drawn into the T.V. After about twenty minutes, or about 30 coyote deaths, Rob entered the room. Immediately the whole room stood up and began to migrate to the dinning room. Harry followed suit.

When he entered the dinning room he saw about twenty circular tables laying perched against the wall. Immediately upon entering the room the oldest ones unfolded the tables legs and took stacked chairs from the wall and put them next to the tables. Everyone began to sit down, and Harry quickly took a chair that looked as if no one planed on sitting in it. After everyone got settled, Rob remained standing. He spoke with a loud, clear voice that could have easily been heard outside the building if anyone was there.

"As you know, last night the Ar paid us another visit. They heard our movement past out designated sleeping time and were angry. We must do as we are told. We must not anger the Ar. Most of us here have suffered a punishment from them and do not want another one. We must do as we are told for our own safety." Rob sat down, a cheeky grin on his face. "Lets Eat!" and clapping his hands twice the tables were suddenly filled with plates, cutlery, and many different breakfast dishes. After Harry saw the food arrive, he turned to speak to a short, pale red-headed boy next to him. "I thought magic didn't work here!" he said, utterly amazed.

"It doesn't." Said the red-head in a bored voice, dishing hash browns onto his plate. "The Ar has magic of their own. It does work. Are you the new kid?"

"Yes, I'm Harry," he replied.

"I'm Daniel, Dan for short. I was in Ireland before I came here. My mum got me down for Hogwarts 'n everything! And two days 'for September first, I landed here. Two days! Since you're new and sound English, I'm guessing you've been there."

"Yeah, I was supposed to graduate at the end of this year."

Dan dished a few eggs and sausages on to his plate and began to eat. Harry, finally realizing how hungry he was himself, loaded on with food and began to chow down. After five minutes of eating, a tan, brown haired boy who looked to be one the oldest ones here sat up and moved across the tables, whispering a secret to each one.

A few minutes later, he made his way to Harry's table. He sat down in an empty chair and said, "How many of you are olders?"

Harry, Dan, and one other boy raised their hands.

"There'll be a meeting in the sleeping room after breakfast. New guy?" he said, looking at Harry.

"Yeah, he's new." Dan said, coming to help Harry in his new environment, "But I don't think he'll squeal. You member Harry Potter? Well, this'll be him."

The older boy glared wide eyed at Harry and did a quick look at his scar.

"I'm Aaron Dregger." He said, seizing Harry's hand and shaking it.

"Calm down Aaron! He just wants to get out of here as well."

"Right, well, anyway Harry, you'll find out about the Ar at the meeting. Be ready to go in five."

And with that Aaron stood up and left.

"Sorry he's such a bugger." Dan said. "You done eating?"

"Yeah." Harry replied, his appetite was gone with the thought of the meeting.

"Then lets go. Some people have already gone up."

They stood together and made the long walk up the stairs.

The shades were still drawn across the sleeping room, but the lamp that had previously lit the corner was now in the center of the room, lighting much more. A circle formed around the lamp, leaving a decent amount of space between the people and the light source.

The circle was now a crowd. Rob entered the room and the murmurings of the group went silent. He moved to the center of the room and began to move around the light, talking to everyone.

"I have good news, everyone." A giant smile flickered across his face. "I have been given information on how to escape."

Immediately the room erupted with chattering.

"When I went to pick Harry up last night," he began, quieting the room down with in a second, "The Counselor told me that there was away out. And it was right under our very noses. She said that the way out was what we fear most outside, and that is why we are only allowed out with the Ar watching us."

"What does that really tell us though?" said someone across the crowd Harry could not see.

"It tells us that we must search for our way out during our time outside. Tell me, what do you fear outside?" Rob pointed to a very short, very skinny boy who looked like he was a younger, and shouldn't have come up.

"The gray sun" He replied.

"And you?" Rob asked an older that was about Harry's age. He sat for a moment, his eyes glazed over and staring into the lamp.

"I fear the darkness."

I thick hush fell over the group. This time Harry did know what they were talking about. That think, black horror that was at the end of the road. It was no friendly night, but a fearsome lightless place known for hiding enemies and ferocious beasts.

"I also fear the darkness." said Dan, who sat next to Harry.

That sentence was soon heard all across the room. Harry even found himself saying the line.

"Then we know the Darkness holds something vital to our escape. No matter how much we fear it, we are going to have to face it. That's it for this meeting unless there are any questions."

Harry raised his hand.

"What are the Ar?"

The room stared at him, watching for an answer. It seemed half the room didn't even know yet they had been here for months.

"Harry," Rob began, slowly, "The Ar are human like creatures with amazing strength. Imagine the power of an elephant put into a human."

"So they're human?"

"No, they are not. They hunger to hurt us. That's the way they live. Pain gives them life." Rob sighed, walked through the crowd and took a seat on one of the beds. "They say that at home there are creatures called Dementors who feed off of a humans good memories, leaving only the bad. Now, imagine a creature who can not hurt you unless you do something wrong. That creature eats your screams in as energy when it is allowed to torture you. That is why we hunger to go home. This place is a living hell." When Rob said the last line he seemed unsure of what he'd said.

Harry raised his hand again for one last question. "How long have you been here?"

Rob closed his eyes and bowed his head. He took a deep breath in before releasing it and saying, "The Healers here tell me I've been here since I was nice months old."

A/N- longer then the last! yay! Next chapter- what is happening back home with Hermione and Ron and everyone.

COOL QUOTE

"Fear defeats more people then any other one thing in this world."

-Ralph Waldo Emerson

(what a cool name!)


	5. Chapter Five

A/N- sorry for like NO updates. Sorta writers block, sorta just VERY busy with fundraising for my high school sb team. KateM- Yes, you age. Rob, for instance, has been in the infants, toddlers, the younger, and older boys section. He continues to age, just like his body does back in the real world. If something were to happen to his body, he would disappear and move 'beyond'.

Chapter Five

Hermione and Ron were once again visiting the infirmary where Harry still lay unconscious. His head was laying lightly against his pillow as the setting sun cast its long rays threw the window. Although neither Hermione nor Ron wanted to admit it, they were in a small sense glad Harry had left them for a little while. Harry being gone had brought the two together to become closer then they had ever been before.

Harry's eyes remained shut no matter how long the two of them sat there together, hand in hand, waiting for his return. But no matter how much they longed for his to come back, they continued to bicker anyway.

"I told you, Ron, you should have done that essay weeks ago!" Hermione spat, removing her hand from his.

"I know Hermione, but I've still got four more days-"

"But it's 10 feet of parchment! You should have done it when-"

"When it happened?"

Hermione went silent at his remark. Weeks ago, or more like 4 weeks ago to be precise, Harry had fallen into his comma.

"I'm sorry 'Mione, I shouldn't have-"

"No, you're right. We both have a lot on our minds right now. I'm sorry."

They both again fell silent.

While sitting there in silence, staring off into space, Harry mind continued to try and come back…

HARRY'S POV

The group was silenced by his words. Harry was sure no one else there could come even close to equaling his amount of time here.

Rob slowly stood up, "That's all for today. We go outside this afternoon. I don't know what you all think but I definitely think it's worth my life. I don't want to stay here forever. I want to move on and have a, what'd you call it Jason?"

A man towards the bake mouthed a word and triggered something in Rob's mind. "Oh yeah, a family. I've never had one but it sounds nice."

Most of the Group's jaws dropped as Rob stood up and left the sleeping area.

As one, the group followed Rob back out on to the main landing of the home.

"Rob's an idiot." Harry heard a boy his age who sounded American mutter from the back. "He doesn't know how good he's got it here. Back home we didn't have nothing. I told you I lived in New York, right Travis? Well, I wasn't no rich boys kid. I lived out on the streets and shit. I'd rather be here any day then go back there. At least here I got warm food on the table and a bed to sleep in. Back home it was robbing a store or taking from a dumpster or sleeping under a bridge. Here is better then any place back home."

Travis answered, "If here is so much better, why do you still refer to New York as home?"

The American boy continued walking to the stairs but had a solemn look on his face. Harry could tell he was trying to cover up for his real need and want to go back to New York, but Harry didn't know why.

After about 10 minuets of T.V. time, it was lunch time already.

They all went through the same ritual, though this time Rob came and sat next to Harry.

With food on the table Harry began to chow down, but Rob really needed to speak to him.

"We're going outside today Harry. In fact, we're going right after lunch. You must listen very carefully. You must stay in the designated areas that are assigned to you. The Ar do not tolerate it when people just get up and leave. When ever people do, and they go and venture into the Darkness, they are never seen again."

A curious thought crossed Harry's mind.

"But upstairs you said that the Darkness may be the key to going back home. Why shouldn't we go close to it?"

"We need to learn more first. We need to know that we will succeed in our attempt-"

Almost shouting now, Harry turned heads as he said , "No! I am willing to loose everything, and even my life to leave here! I don't know about you, but the life I left behind was too great to loose! I'm willing to enter the Dark-"

Harry's shouts were silenced when a man behind him covered his mouth. He bent down and whispered into Harry's ear. His voice was kind and seemed to be full of wisdom, yet hard and commanding at the same time.

"Do not speak your mind so loudly in the Eating Room. The Ar are always listening and will hear you. We all want back and I may be in the only one who wants it as much as you, but you must be careful. Remember, the Ar are always listening."

The hand slowly moved away from his mouth. Harry turned his head and saw a man who looked years beyond his age, yet also had the look of the 25 year old be probably was. He had brown hair that reached his shoulders and hazel eyes that seemed to speak themselves.

His skin was a dark, tanned color and he was at least 6' 5" tall.

"Harry," Rob said from behind him, "I think it's best you talk with Elijah. He's always best about making people understand and getting used to everything."

Elijah nodded and Rob ended with, "You have half an hour. We leave after that."

Elijah turned and Harry followed. He led him to one of the couches, but chose the floor himself, and Harry did the same.

"Harry, " he spoke, his words being chosen carefully, "I haven't been here long enough to not know who you are. And from what I've read in the papers, and heard from the media-" Harry groaned. He probably thought he was a psycho maniac or something. "- I can tell that you will push for what is right and needed when ever it is necessary." Or, Harry thought, maybe not… "For about two years now I've been pushing on the entire group entering the Darkness, but the leader has never agreed. With this new bit of information from the counselor, Rob is a bit keener on the idea of entering the Darkness. I need to convince Rob to enter the Darkness. That's where you come in. The counselor will re-visit with us only once in our stay here. Most of us go back just after we have arrived. You still have that chance. Go to the counselor and find out all you can about the Darkness. When you return, tell Rob, and we may be on our way to freedom. Are you willing?"

He had no other answer possibly going through his head. He wanted out and was willing to die trying. Death had to be better then the Group place. "Yes, 100."

"Good," Elijah smiled, revealing a gap in between his two top front teeth. "Now what I'm supposed to talk to you about. The Ar have punished those they have caught entering the out-of-bounds area. Those they don't catch are never seen again. The punishments are not friendly. You are physically touched by the Ar," a shudder went up Elijah's spine that was visible to Harry, "and they torture you. The attempt to drown you, cast their magic on you, but there is a most terrible punishment. They extract from your mind the memories of your happiest time back home, make you feel like you're their again, and that somehow you got free, and then they bring you back into reality by dumping a liquid that smells like vinegar on you head. That's what I'm supposed to tell you. I'm to warn you. But on the other note, do you think after the outside session you'd be willing to ask Rob to go and see the counselor?"

Harry nodded, "Yes."

A/N- You've now met all the really important characters, give or take one or two. The visit to the counselor and outside will happen next chapter. Elijah is supposed to be sorta like Aragorn. Or at least that's what I'm picturing in my mind. one more thing- About one day happens for every month that happens back in the real world.

On and on, does anybody know what we are living for?

-Ziddler, Moulin Rouge


End file.
